"Why do pizza and hamburger lovers get an emoji but taco lovers don't?" Taco Bell asks.

Nearly 27,000 people have signed Taco Bell's online petition, and the fast food chain unveiled "Taco Emoji" t-shirts on Thursday.

The taco emoji campaign might seem random, but it's actually based on a looming update to the emoji system. Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organization that regulates emojis among other computer text, announced in November that 37 candidates for new emoticons could be added as part of a code update scheduled for June.

The finalists include racially diverse emoji faces, a zipper-mouth face, prayer beads, a cricket bat and a taco.

Taco Bell's campaign began in November, but the company says it won't declare victory until the Unicode Consortium creates a taco emoji for the masses.

"We need your help convincing them," reads the petition from Taco Bell, which is part of the restaurant company Yum Brands(YUM). "America wants a taco emoji. America needs a taco emoji. Help us."

Taco Bell claims that its customers "have been asking for a taco emoji for years."

Current food and drink emojis include beer, wine, coffee, ice cream, a donut, a hamburger, an egg, pizza, french fries, a steak, a loaf of bread, and various fruits (no vegetables).

Tacos could be added among six other food items, including a hot dog, a burrito, a bottle with a popping cork, popcorn, turkey, and a cheese wedge. Those foods made up six of the top seven most-requested emoji, according to Unicode.